Multitime separator and distributer.



D. L. MARTYN.

MULTITIME SEPARATOR- AND DISTRIBUIER.

APPLICATION FILED APR 6. l9 l 6.

Patented Oct, 23, 1917.

5 SNEETS-SHEET 1.

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Dal (ML. .MQFZyIZ affozucq D. L. MARTYN.

MULTITIME SEPARATOR AND DISTRIBUTER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 6. 1916.

Patented Oct. 23, 1917.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2- D. L. MARTYN.

MULTITIME SEPARATOR AND DISTRIBUTER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 6. I916.

Patented Oct. 23,1917.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3 DandLJVar @21/ Snow-1% 01 k7 fi D. L. MARTYN.MUL'TITIME SEPARATOR AND DISTRIBUTER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 6. 1916.

Patented Oct. 23, 1917.

5 SHEETSSHEET 4.

flax L12 L. Mariya attoz W214 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID LUCIFER MARTYN, OF NORTH YAKIMA, WASHINGTON.

MULTITIME SEPARATOR. AND DI-STRIBUTER.

Application filed April 6, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID L. MARTYN, a citizen of the United States, andresident of North Yakima, in the county of Yakima and State ofl/Vashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMultitime Separators and Distributers, of which the following is aspecification.

The present invention relates to annunciating systems and has particularreference to a new and improved arrangement of time controlledLmechanism for transmitting mes sages, producing audible alarms, orotherwise apprising persons I at predetermined times that a certaingiven time has arrived, the device being particularly adapted for use inconnection with telephone systems whereby to automatically render analarm to subscribers at predetermined intervals, or for use in largehotels for arousing those guests which leave instructions to be calledat certain hours of the day or night.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a novel and effectiveannnnciating system of the class referred to which is comparativelycheap t9 manufacture and install and requires but very little attentionfrom the person having control of the same.

Another object of my invention is toprovide an alarm call distributer ofthe class described constructed whereby any number of calls within thecapacity of the device may be made simultaneously or successively asdesired, means being associated with the operating mechanism tosimultaneously close all of the alarm circuits to give a general alarmto all places in connection with the device in the event of fire or forany other reason.

A further object of my invention is to provide an alarm system whichwill accurately, at predetermined intervals set in motion mechanism forclosing a plurality of electrical circuits leading to various points inorder to deliver audible signals at such points. When the device is usedin connection with a public telephone system, such as in a hotel,hospital or the like, either an independent alarm device embodying theimprovements of my invention may be provided in the hospital, hotel orthe like, or the telephone system and telephones of the hospital orhotel may be connected with a public alarm station containing a deviceembodying my invention.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 23, 191 *7.

Serial No. 89,464.

Other objects and advantages to be derived from the use of my improvedsignaling system will appear from the following detailed description andthe claims, taken with, an inspection of the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a signal distributing deviceembodying the improvements of my invention; i

Fig. 2 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the signal separatingmechanism, the back cover thereof being removed;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line 33 ofFig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. 4 is a transverse horizontal sectional view taken on the line 44lofFig. 1, showing the time controlled circuit closing device;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmental sectional view of the time controlledcircuit closing elements shown in Fig. 4, oneof the circuit closingmembers being shown;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a portion of theseparator shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on line 77 of Fig.6;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of the timecontrolled circuit closing element shown in Figs. 4L and 5, a clockbeing shown associated therewith;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of an emergencycircuit closer; Fig. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion ofthe signal distributing mecha nism; and

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic view of the relative arrangement of the timeindicating scales.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein similar charactersof reference designate like and corresponding parts throughout thevarious views, A and B designate in their entireties, respectively, thetime-controlling mechanism and signal distributing device.

The time controlling mechanism includes a housing 10 having achronometer l-l mounted therein. I provide a time dividing cylinderforming a time controlled circuit closer, said cylinder being designated15 and rotatably mounted on a stationary shaft 16. The shaft 16 ismounted in bearing brackets 17 and 18 carried by the front wall of the lhousing 10. Bushings 19 serve to mount the shaft 16 in the brackets 17and 18 and insulate the same therefrom. The shaft is in communicationwith one terminal of one side of an electrical circuit, the conductorthereof being designated 20.

The lower end of the cylinder is closed by a plate 21, said plate havinga bearing member 22 concentrically carried thereby, grooves 23 and 21being provided in the bearing member 22 and a flange 25 formed on thebracket bearing 18, whereby to receive a plurality of anti-frictionballs 26. A bushing 27 of insulating material prevents electricalcontact between the bearing member 22 and the shaft 16.

Motion is transmitted to the cylinder 15 from the chronometer by meansof a shaft 28, the lower free end of said shaft 28 hav ing a. bevel gear30 thereon, said gear meshing with a similar gear 31 carried upon atransversely extending shaft 32, said shaft having a clutch 32interposed therein for for an obvious purpose. A worm 33 is carried onthe free end of the shaft 32, said worm meshing with a worm gear 31mounted on the exterior peripheral face of the cylinder 15 adjacent thelower end thereof. The upper end of the shaft 28 connects with thechronometer mechanism in any suitable manner whereby the cylinder andchronometer may rotate synchronously.

A pair of scales 35 and 36 are arranged circumferentially upon theexterior surface of the cylinder 15, said scales indicating hours andminutes or other divisions of time, one of the scales bein six hoursahead of the other scale, that 15, when reading the cylinder from thefront the top scale 35 is to i be read, this scale indicating accuratelythe position of the upper scale and when a given time is about to bearrived at. Thus it will be seen that the upper scale is the true scaleand when setting the device for calls it will & be used, and not thelower scale. In Fig. 11

a diagrammatic view of the arrangement of the scales 35 and 36 is shown,the upper of the scales shown in this view being the true scale.

A plurality of openings 37 are provided in the peripheral wall of thecylinder 15, said openings being provided with insulating bushings 38 toreceive metallic pins 39 having heads d0. Certain of the openings aredisposed in alinement with the hour mark of the scale 35, certain othersof the openings being disposed on the half-hour marl: and quarter-hourmark, this arrangement being partly shown in Figs. 1 and 11.

A plurality of spring arms i1 are carried by an enlargement 12 formed onthe shaft 16, said spring arms projecting toward the front wall of thehousing 10 for contact with the pins 39 as the same pass.

In the present instance I have provided ten superposed parallel rows ofopenings in the cylinder, there being preferably fortyeight holes ineach line making Q80 in all. Of course, I do not limit myself to thenumber of openings used nor how divided, this being only one arrangementof the divisions of time found in actual practice to be convenient forthe use of my machine. A plurality of conductors 15, prefe "ablyequaling in number the number of rows of pins, are provided, the innerfree ends of the conductors being connected to spring strips 46 and bestshown in Fig. The free ends of the strips engage slidable pins -16disposed adjacent the path of travel of the heads of the pins 39,whereby to contact therewith, as clearly shown in Fig. at.

The conductor 20, hereinbefore referred to, communicates with the sourceof electrical energy designated 48, the continuation of the conductor20, designated 20, serving as a return wire for all of the signalingapparatus located at various points, the latter not being shown in thedrawings. An electric battery has been shown as a source of energy, butof course, it is to be understood that a motor-generator set may beemployed for this purpose, a transformer, or any other desirable sourceof electrical energy. For convenience in describing the circuit furthersuch circuits as are formed by the conductors i5 and 20 will be termedas signaling circuits.

A plurality of projections 50 are mounted on the bottom plate of thecylinder 15, said projections having inclined, surfaces for engagementwith an upstanding insulated rod 51, said rod being vertically movablein a bracket The lower free end of the rod 51 engages a spring contactarm 5-1, said spring contact arm being mounted on the front wall of the.housing A. \Vhen depressed the spring contact arm 51 is adapted toengage a similar arm mounted on the housing A. The purpose of the springarms will be described in detail hereinafter. The projections 50 arearranged in spaced relation sli ht-ly past the hour indications on thelower sale 36 for a purpose which will hereinafter appear.

Referring now to the alarm or signal distributing element associatedwith the housing B I provide means for separating the divisions of timeand means for distributing the divisions separated. this being done bythe arrangement of electrical circuits and the mechanism for controllingthe same, so that each call is isolated from every other call so as toprevent confusion.

The separator B consists of a front wall 60. a rear wall 61, and top andbottom walls 62 and 63, respectively. A pair of vertical partitions 66and G7 are mounted within the housing B to provide chambers a, b, and c.A pair of horizontal partitions 68 and 69 are mounted in the chamber 0,bearings and 71 being carried on said partitions. A pair of shafts 72and 73 are mounted in said bearings, said shafts carrying a plurality ofbevel gears 74 and 75 arranged at predetermined fixed positions thereon.Sprocket Wheels 76 and 77 are carried by the shafts 72 and 73,respectively, a sprocket chain 78 being trained over said sprocketwheels. Both of the Wheels 7 6 and 77 are of the same diameter so thatboth of the shafts will operate synchronously. On .one of the end wallsof the housing B a dial 79 is mounted, the free end of the shaft 7 3projecting through the dial and having an indicating arm 80 mountedthereon for movement across said dial. The dial is graduated in hours.The free end of the shaft 7 3 is provided with a polygonal portion 81't0permit of application of a crank or the like thereto for setting theapparatus.

A step by step movement is provided for imparting motion every hour orat other predetermined intervals to the shaft 7 3, said step by stepmechanism including a bellcrank lever 82 pivoted on a rod 83 mounted inthe chamber 0. One arm 81 of the bellcrank lever operates a gravity pawl85 carried by a hinged arm 85 adapted to engage in the teeth of aratchet wheel 87 mounted on the shaft 73. A spring pawl 88 fastened at89 to the bottom wall of the housing B normally engages the teeth of theratchet wheel 87 to prevent reverse rotation of the same. There arepreferably twelve teeth in the ratchet wheel, for a purpose which willhereinafter appear. The other arm 90 of the bell-crank 82 is providedwith an armature 91 adapted to be influenced by an electro-magnet 92mounted beneath the bottom 69. The electro-magnet is slidable on a basemember 93, by means of a re 91, having one free end thereof threaded asat 95, said threaded end passing through a partition 96, a plurality ofnuts 97 serving to adjust said rod. A circuit a supplies electriccurrent to the electro-magnet 92, said circuit a; being controlled bythe spring arms 5% and 55 in a manner which will hereinafter ap pear. Afiat spring 98 fastened at 99 to one of the end walls of the housing Bis disposed beneath the free ends of the arm 84 of the bell-crank lever82 to absorb shock incident to the suddenmovement of the bell-cranklever upon energization of the electro-magnet 92. v p

A plurality of sets of shafts 101 and 102 are provided, said shaftshaving on the rear free ends thereof aplurality of gears 103 and 104-adapted for meshin engagement with the bevel gears 74: and 75 carried onthe shafts 72 and 78, respectively. All of the bevel gears mentioned areof a like size so that upon a rotation of the shaft 7 3, the shaft willmake one revolution as will all of the shafts designated 101 and 102.The shafts 101 and 102 are mounted in insulating bushings 105 arrangedin the verti cal part' ions 66 and 67, as best shown in Fig. 6. All ofthe bevel gears 103 and 101 are insulated from their respective shaftsas best shown in Fig. 6 at 106.

Each of the shafts 101 and 102 are connected with a binding post, ofwhich there are a plurality, best shown in Fig.1 and designated 107.Each one of the binding posts 107 are in connection with one of theplurality of conductors hereinbefore designated 15. The connection ofthe shafts with the binding posts is afforded by means of the conductors108, spring brush members 109 and 110 connecting with said siafts toprovide sliding contacts.

A plurality of separator dials are provided on the front wall (30 of thehousing B, said dials being in the form of sets of circumferentiallyarranged tubular memers 111, the arrangement of one of the same beingshown in Figs. 6 and 7. Since all of the dials are identical inconstruction, I shall describe but ,one of the same. T ubu lar members111 project through the wall 60, the outer free ends of the tubularmembers being rolled as at 112 to prevent inward movement of themembers. A plurality of angular plate members 113 are soldered one eachto one of the tubes, one of the freecorners of the members 118 beingbent as at 11 1- to engage the woodwork of the wall. This arrangementprevents dislodgment of the tubular members. The inner ends of thetubular members project beyond the inner surface of the wall and areadapted for contact successively by spring arms 115 and.

116 carried by the forward free ends of the shafts 101 and 102. As shownin Fig. 7 a block 117 is mounted on the shaft to which the spring armsare to be attached and is maintained in adjusted position by means of aset screw 118. The spring arm is connected as at 119 to the block 117.

Time designating numerals may be placed on the outer surface of thefront wall 60 of the housing .13 adjacent the open ends of each of thetubes as best shown in Fig. 1. Each one of the dials so formed has beengiven a designated number, the number being printed above the dial asshown in Fig. 1. The dial designated by the numeral 1 is connected byone of the conductors 108 to a binding post which affords communicationbetween the given dial and the top row of pins in the cylinder 15 andthe remaining dials communicate with said cylinder in succession, thatis, the dial 2 communicates with the next row of pins, below the firstrow, etc.

The time distributor includes a body 121 having ten divisions,containing in the present instance 100 home or terminal ends of alarmcircuits in the form of spring members 122 carried in the base board123. A plurality of brackets 124 are carried by the board 121, saidbrackets being connected by means of conductors 125 to each of the tubes111. A plurality of branch conductors 126 are provided, there being tenin the present instance extending from the bracket 124, each conductorhaving a hollow connecting plug 127 on its free end. Connecting plugs129 are carried by the free ends of the conductors 125 for facilitatingconnection and disconnection of the said conductors with said tubes. Asemi-diagrammatic illustra tion of the jumper and branches is shown inFig. 1 and it will be noted that when the spring arms of the dial 5reach the tube plugged ten signals will be simultaneously sent throughthe jumper and branches to ten different places. There is practically nolimit to the number of conductors 126 that may be used.

he circuit 00 is continued as at y in Fig. 1, abattery or other sourceof electrical energy 130 being interposed in one of the conductors, theother conductor being interrupted by the spring arms 54 and It will beseen that when the arms 54 and 55 contact current will be caused to flowthrough the electro-magnet imparting movement to the bell-crank lever82, which latter by virtue of the pawl engages the ratchet wheel 87 andmoves up all of the spring arms 115 and 116 one step, which in thepresent instance would be equal to an hours time.

In the event that it is desired to give a general alarm, that is,simultaneously and continuously set in motion each and every signalcommunicating with the device I have provided a switch member includinga stationary bar 132 mounted on the outer surface of the end wall of thehousing I, carrying the binding posts 107. A circuit closing blade 133is connected with the bar- 132 by means of pivoted links 134. A lever135 pivoted at 136 on said wall is pivotally connected at 137 with theblade 133, said blade being arranged in close proximity to all of thebinding posts. The bar 132 is connected by means of a conductor 138 withthe main source of electrical energy 48, and it will be seen that whenthe blade 132 is brought into simultaneous contact with all of thebinding posts all of the circuits communicating therewith will besimultaneously energized and a general alarm given. The normal positionof the switch is shown in Fig. 9. After closing the switch the shaft 73is rotated to connect all the places simultaneously.

It is, of course, understood that in drill ing the holes in the cylinder15 any desired arrangement may be provided. Thus, if it is desired tohave the cylinder divided into five minute periods the second row ofopenings from the top would be drilled five minutes past the hour ineach case, the third row ten minutes past thehour, the fourth rowfifteen minutes past the hour, having forty-eight holes in each row andas many rows as the time dividing cylinder may demand. It is notessential that the openings in the time dividing cylinder be providedwith insulating bushings. It may also be desired to use a clock forrunning fast or slow, the holes being drilled to suit various durationsof time, as for example, a clock may be made to lose or gain six hoursin every twelve, and the holes made to correspond with standard time. Ifdesired there may be more or less number of lines of openings and anynumber of openings operated by a clock mechanism or any horologicaldevice.

Referring to the distributing board the ten sections containing circuitterminals are ar 'anged to facilitate the location of a number in thequickest possible time. This is done by the following arrangement: No. 1square contains ten rows vertically and ten rows horizontally,preferably. On the top row the numbers are 1, 11, 21, 31, 41, 51, 61,71, 81, and 91. On the second row 101, 111, 121, 131, 111, 151, 161,171, 181, and 191, the numbers progressing to each row, therefore, nomatter what number of room or place is required, if the figure ends withone that number will be found in No. 1, if a two, in square No. 2, sothat by the units of a 106 number is indicated the square in which thesame will be found. Changes may be made in this arrangement as desired,however, it will be found to be preferred.

In operation each of the ten dials is con- 165 nected to a plurality ofthe brackets 124, each tube of each dial being connected to a bracket bymeans of the conductors 125 hereinbeforc referred to. In Fig. 1 only oneof the conductors 125 is shown in order to avoid confusion in thedrawing. In the arrangement as shown there would be preferably brackets,one for each one of the tubes.

In the operation of my invention I have 116 assumed that but one of thesets of openings has been plugged and that but one section of thedistributer has been connected. From an inspection of Fig. 1 it will beseen that the opening 12 in the dial 5 has been 120 connected by theconductor with the distributing board 121. Necessarily the time at whicha call or calls may be desired must be determined by the insertion ofconnecting pins in the cylinder 15. In this instance 125 the dial 5 willbe used for giving an alarm on the hour only. The arrangement of theremaining dials is as follows: Dial number 1 is connected for hoursonly; dial number 2 for fifteen minutes past the hour; dial number 3thirty minutes past the hour; and dial number 1 forty-five minutes pastthe hour. The same relation between the dials 6 to 10 eXists as betweenthe dials 1 to 5. Assuming that the fifth row of openings in thecylinder 15 (five from the top) are plugged for each hour it will beapparent'that as each one of the pins 39 pass the arms ll current willflow from the shaft 16 through the arms and pins connected to the springterminal of the conductor leadin to the dial 5. The spring arm of thedial mentioned, being, at this time, in contact with the tube designated12 oclock time the various divisions of time made by the cylinder 15will be transmitted through the conductor 125 to the distributing boardand thence to the various places at which the alarm or alarms may bedesired.

After the cylinder has moved the distance of an hour one of the plugs 50will engage the pin 51 which in turn will cause the spring arms 54 and55 to engage, closing the circuits to the step-by-step movementmechanism energizing the electro-magnets 92 and causing all of the dialsincluding the dial 5 to move forward one hour at which time the same areagain ready for a series of calls in that hour.

All of the openings in the cylinder 15 are plugged, if desired, atvarious hours or divisions of the same whereby to deliver a plurality ofsignals. The openings in the dials may also be plugged for given hours.In this manner a plurality of calls, one minute, fifteen, twenty or infact any number of minutes apart may be obtained, of course thedivisions of time being governed by the distance between the openings inthe time dividing cylinder.

By placing the time dividing cylinder outside of the chronometer caseaccess is obtained to each vertical row of openings with the exceptionof the vertical row of openings in actual contact and the two adjoiningrows. Thus the device may be plugged for a future time five minutesahead of that time or eleven hours and fifty-five minutes ahead of thetime, depending upon the desires of the party to be called.

My invention will be found particularly adapted for use in connectionwith city telephone systems, the conductors leading from thedistributing board being associated with the usual telephone system inwhich man ner a subscriber may be called automatically at predeterminedtimes by means of the telephone. It however does not interfere with theordinary use of the telephone but is an addition to it.

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it is thought that a clear and comprehensive understanding ofthe construction, operation and advantages of my invention may be had,

and while 1 have shown and described the device as embodying a specificstructure, I desire that it be understood that such changes may be madein said structure as do not depart from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

Having thu fully described my invention, what 1 claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an annunciatin system, the combination of a chronometer, acylinder synchronously operable thereby, a plurality of trunk circuitscontrollable bysaid cylinder, a plurality of signal separatorsinterposed in said trunk circuits, an electro-magnet for operating saidsignal separators, a circuit closer beneath said cylinder and incommunication with said electro-magnet, and means carried by thecylinder engageable with the circuit closer to energize said electro-magnet, to simultaneously move said signal separators.

9'. In an annunciating system, the combination of a chrononieter. acylinder syuchronously operable thereby, a plurality of trunk circuitscontrollable by said cylinder, a plurality of signal separatorsinterposed in said trunk circuits, an electro-magnet for operating saidsignal separators, a circuit closer beneath said cylinder and incommunication with said electro-magnet, means carried by said cylinderengageable with the circuit closer to energize said electro-magnet tosimultaneously move said signal separators, and signal distributingmeans communicating with said separators.

3. In an annunciating system, the combination of a time controllingmechanism, a synchronously operable circuit closer, a plurality of trunkcircuits, of signal separating apparatus including a pair of parallelarranged shafts, a plurality of shafts intergeared with first saidshafts, each of the latter communicating with one trunk circuit, aplurality of circuit closing arms carried by second said shafts, ircuitterminals disposed in the path of movement of said spring arms, saidshaft being operated synchronously, a step-by-step operating mechanismfor said shaft, and means associated with said time controllingmechanism to operate said step by-step-movement.

1. In an annunciating system, the combination with a time controllingmechanism, a synchronously operable circuit closer, a plurality of trunkcircuits, of signal separating apparatus including a plurality ofintergeared shafts, circuit closing arms on said shafts, circuitterminals disposed adjacent the path of movement of said arms, a ratchetcarried by one of the shafts, a bell-crank lever, said lever having apawl engaging said ratchet, shock absorbing means associated therewith,and an electro-magnet controllable by said time controlling mechanism tocrank lever, a pawl on one end of the bellcrank lever to engage saidratchet, shock absorbing means for said bell-crank lover,electro-magnets for actuating said lever, and means controlled by saidsynchronous circuit closer to intermittently energize saidelectro-magnet.

DAVID LUCIFER MARTYN.

lVitncsses T. L. MARTIN, B. M. SAWBRIDGE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

